The much-anticipated review of Portland Public Schools’ budget by state fiscal analysts fell short of providing clarity about how much money the district could prudently spend to meet union demands amid the ongoing teachers strike.
But it did disprove assertions by the Portland Association of Teachers that the district has an extra $21 million on hand this school year and next from a local property tax surge. Union leaders had said that money could help pay for bigger raises and smaller class sizes.
Under the state’s school funding system, when districts take in more local tax money than expected, the Oregon Department of Education cuts their state allocation by the identical amount, resulting in a zero sum gain.
Fiscal analysts from the Department of Administrative Services and the Oregon Department of Education spent three days this week meeting behind closed doors with both school district officials and union leaders. They held a final meeting with both parties present Friday morning.
In the end, they emerged with a number that was nearly identical to what the district had said it had available to spend this year from its largest source of funding: $563 million from the state school fund formula.
“We think that it is helpful for both parties to have a clear understanding about our financial projections and the cost of our various proposals,” said Myong Leigh, the district’s interim deputy superintendent for operations. “The state has been very helpful to share information, look at our respective assumptions and validate a clearer understanding for both parties.”
In an email to school board members Thursday, union president Angela Bonilla asserted that an increase in local property tax revenues meant the district would have an additional $74 million to spend over the next three years. But the state’s estimates only identified $12 million that would likely be available. Bonilla’s projections include a state teachers union estimate for 2025-26, which she acknowledged is “an assumption” because lawmakers won’t set that budget until 2025.
State analysts did not, however, weigh in on some of the most pressing questions, including how or even if it was possible for the district to reconfigure its spending from savings, on administration and on outside contracting to get closer to meeting the union’s demands.
For months, the union has asked for cost-of-living increases to keep up with inflation, smaller class sizes and more time to plan lessons for students with complex academic and emotional needs.
To fund its proposals, union officials have suggested cutting from administrative and purchasing budgets and spending down the district’s rainy day fund. And, as in Bonilla’s letter to school board members, the union asserted that the district did not fully account for all the money it is receiving.
The district has countered that its offer, which would raise teacher salaries by 11% over the next three years on top of step increases, is generous and will require millions of dollars in cuts to other spending.
Teachers went on strike Nov. 1. Students have missed six days of class and teachers have gone seven days without pay from the district. On Thursday, the two sides exchanged substantive proposals that brought them somewhat closer to agreement on planning time and cost of living increases. But they remain far apart on class sizes.
On Friday, Bonilla called the state agency’s financial analysis “helpful.” The state indicated Portland Public Schools’ projections for state funding in 2024-25 is likely $12 million too pessimistic, given other districts’ projections of falling enrollment too.
“We appreciate the governor and her staff offering support and giving a different perspective on the district’s forecasting,” she said.
Bargaining between the two sides continued Friday and is expected to last all weekend.
— Betsy Hammond, [email protected], @chalkup
— Julia Silverman, [email protected], @jrlsilverman